MilDRED is introduced to us as a man, so from here on, I’ll refer to her as him.  Confused yet? This gender-bending back and forth is the most fascinating part of the performance.  When he’s a woman there’s still a hint of man, and when he’s a man, there’s still a hint of woman.  He challenges gender stereotypes by demonstrating that it’s possible to be both male and female simultaneously.

Throughout the show he changes costume as he changes personalities.  Each costume waits in its own chair in a semicircle of chairs, a crescent moon of spirits waiting to inhabit the body of the performer.  The transformation takes place in plain view, and we have the patience to watch these onstage costume changes because we’re watching to see what he turns into next.

The characters range from male to female, old to young, and slutty to holy.  Mac Dred wears a comically huge afro that takes on a life of its own as he busts out some super fly disco dance moves.  Mother Dred is an old lady who can still get funky, and Dredisha dresses in a slutty outfit and eats chicken wings with hot sauce.

The final Dred character is a peaceful, holy character dressed in white.  It is the purest character, stripped of all of the extra flair of the previous personalities.  He flows through yoga movements and repeats the mantra, "I am in love with me again, I am in love with me again."  And that is the end.

Although her intentions are noble and she puts on an entertaining show, it serves as little more than her own self-affirmation.  In a brief post-performance discussion, she said that she started to accept herself when she started performing.  I give her credit for discovering freedom of expression and wanting to share it, but the role of art needs to extend beyond self-therapy. Maybe I’m being harsh.  I was reminded to love myself, and that can’t be all that bad.

iDANZ Critix Corner
Official Dance Review by Julie Fotheringham
Performance: MilDRED Gerestant, When She Was King
Venue: Dixon Place, New York City
Date: September 26, 2009
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In this NEW REMIX of her one woMan show "When She Was KING," DRED  – with NEW Director(PASSION) , NEW music,  NEW Choreography, and NEW exploration of characters, DRED takes us through a gender-bending,musical, poetic, dancing, comedic, and Theatrical ride through her many SELVES.   From a Jamaican gender alchemist, to a gender bending diva!

Saturday, September 26 at 8 & 10pm, $15, $12

DRED GERESTANT has been seen on MTV, HBO, and Oxygen.  She just made along with Ellen DeGeneres and Wanda Sykes – Go Magazine’s "100 Women We Love -Class of 2009" list, and was also awarded a Spirit Award at OUT music awards this year for her 14 years of gender bending community service. 

PASSION is thrilled to be at Dixon Place where she first directed and performed her one-woman show Last Stop Before Dredlocks, and did stand-up comedy opening for Nancy Giles.  www.dredlove.com

The United Nations calls Dred, "Unfailingly fascinating!"  DRED just made – along with Ellen DeGeneres and Wanda Sykes – Go Magazine’s "100 Women We Love – Class of 2009" list, and was also an honoree at OUTmusic awards this year for her 14 years of performing and community service.  Tyler Perry may have his Madea, but MilDred DRED Gerestant has her DRED.  Cheryl Burke writes, "Mildred Dred Gerestant aka DRED performs a particularly mystical form of gender-illusioning, drag, and one woMan show.  Her act is less a typical impersonation and more a challenge to societal ideas of what it means to be male or female, while reminding the audience that there’s some of each in everyone. It’s no surprise that DRED’s motto  is  "Love all of who you are…"

Appearing around New York City and abroad since 1995, DRED, the Haitian-American actress and "gender illusionist,"  is the creator of "The Dred Love Experience", a performance/workshop which combines a series of art forms such as poetry, music and monologue to help participants question gender stereotypes and ruminate on their own identities. She describes the show as "a progressive, funky, fly,supernatural-high, poetic, thought-provoking, Haitian-American, and musical performance on gender-fluidity and freedom."Turning her inimitable art into action, DRED has also developed a gender sensitivity workshop that she shares with everyone from police departments to schools to survivors of domestic abuse to homeless youth. DRED is available for you right now!  Check out her new website at www.DREDLove.com  for more info about DRED including her upcoming shows like her NEW self-written one woMan show "When She Was King – the REMIX" on September 26th at 8 and 10pm at Dixon Place!

MilDRED GERESTANT – Progressive Humanitarian/Actress/Activist/Haitian-American/Gender-Illusionist/Educator

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfcTXiTHNy0

Phone:  1-646-342-5660

Website:  www.DredLove.com 

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